DCThunder

So what, exactly, did HAL or the tour partners do wrong that makes them liable for damages? Are you saying that they should have preemptively cancelled the trip because there MIGHT have been exceedingly heavy rain that would cause road flooding and prevent the tour from getting back on time? I'm not trying to put words in your mouth but based on the "facts" that have been presented, I'm failing to see the negligence that would make HAL or the tour operator as being at fault. I will concede that it's easy to be dispassionate about the events and the compensation since I wasn't personally involved, but it's also easy to say "blame the big evil corporation", when something truly beyond their control, goes wrong. I'll also concede that additional OBC might have gone a long way to restoring good will, but how much extra should that have been?

I watched Regal sail out of Port Everglades yesterday on the port webcam and based on the people lined up on the rail on the upper decks (and only on the port side of the ship), she's sailing at full or close to full capacity. That's between 3500-4000 people, so a lot of folks. If you're doing a Caribbean itinerary on Regal in the next 30 days, I'd plan for a full ship. Have fun.

The plug has a drawing of an electric razor on it, but it appears to be a normal US style plug. I'd think a Water Pik would plug in there without an issue.

I dare say that the president of HAL has received detailed reports on this incident and it has been discussed in depth with the General Counsel's office and the insurers regarding the liability that HAL may have. So it won't be a surprise to him if you write. While providing the "other side" of the story, I'd avoid the histrionics and stick to what your husband observed and experienced in a calm, respectful, and factual manner. Should you have received additional compensation from HAL? Probably, for good will if nothing else. How much should that additional compensation be? That's subject to negotiation with you and the rest of those on this ill-fated excursion. Good luck.

On the TA that I did on Regal in November, Alex the ED, arranged for a free "back stage" tour of the Princess Theatre including a panel discussion with two featured singers, several dancers, and a stage manager about their life as performers on cruise ships. We then walked through the back stage area, seeing the dressing rooms, the storage for the stage sets and other props for the shows and then walked across the stage. There were performers at various points who would answer questions about how the shows worked. A few days later one of the third deck officers gave a presentation about how you became a cruise ship officer, the promotion path to captain, and discussed other facts about the navigation and running of the ship. He showed a lot of photos of the bridge and other areas of the navigation areas. We didn't get a tour, but his presentation was very informative and he stayed behind to answer questions. Both of these were totally ad hoc events, but they were both highlights of this particular trip for me. If you ever see something like this offered on a sea day, besure to attend.

I did a transatlantic in one of these cabins on Enchanted. The biggest drawback to the balcony isn't a lack of shade, but the accumulation of soot from the ships exhaust. Little black "pebbles" of burned fuel accumulated on the deck of the balcony and would stain the bottom of feet or shoes. I had to put a bathmat on the floor inside the cabin to wipe my feet on. Also, as it was this was a TA cruise in April, the weather wasn't all that conducive to balcony sitting so I didn't pay too much attention to the amount of shade. It was possible to get out of the sun, but you ended up close to the sliding door into the cabin.

Exactly. I sailed from Southampton to the Canary Islands last spring and the ship was about 95% Brits and there wasn't a kettle in sight in the cabins. Perhaps this was due to the fact that Enchanted was supposed to be home ported in Copenhagen in 2022 for Baltic cruises and went to Southampton when this became unfeasible, but no kettle and plenty of room on the countertop for Bose (or Echo) speakers...

The boss move would be to go back to Princess and tell them what you'd want to move over to a different cruise. Put them in the position of responding or making a counter offer. Like the punch line of that old joke..."We've established what you are. Now we're just haggling over the price." Happy Valentines Day💗

I have been able to use miles to upgrade from premium economy to business on a flight booked through EZAir/Flight Ease, but only after ticketing and by dealing directly with United or American. I'm not aware of any way to pay for the main ticket when booked through the cruise line, but maybe others know if this is possible.

We can all band together to get a Cruise Critic representative on the CCL board! Then we can get towel animals, chocolates on the pillow, champagne fountains, and every other petty and entitled demand we can think of, enacted! CCL Shareholders Unite! We have nothing to lose but our "reserved-all-day-by-leaving-a-towel-and-flip-flops-at-6:00-am" poolside loungers! 🍻

Thanks.

Did the ship ever make any provisions for seeing the Magellanic Cloud galaxies or the Southern Cross constellation on clear nights by providing a dark space on deck to observe them? I've never had much luck with "star gazing" on ships because of the light pollution from the ship itself, so wondered what the captain might have done in this regard.

As was said upthread, the shareholder credit has to be renewed each year by the CCL board of directors. This has been routinely done every year since the benefit was created, sometime in the dim dark past. I suppose they could decide not to renew it for the next year, but I tend to doubt it.

Thanks. I will check them out.

I saw a video earlier today of severe flash flooding in many southern Peruvian villages due to heavy rains. I'd post the link but can't find it right now.

Any recommendations for 3 star hotels near the Termini? I'd prefer not going through 25 pages of his thread. I took the train from the airport into Rome and then the train to Civi in 2022 and would like to do it again, so I don't want to get too far from the Termini. The place I stayed in 2022 seems to not have any rooms for when I'm going to be back in Rome this November.

While I've never done a B2B on HAL, I have done so frequently on Princess and have never had an issue keeping the same cabin except one time when I added a third cruise on while on the ship and my current cabin had already been booked. But as said upthread, the room stewards were very helpful in getting me moved to my new cabin so they could get my room ready for the on-coming guest.

There is considerably more demand by cruise passengers for US>Europe flights than for US>South America flights. There is also much greater capacity from the airlines that needs to be filled, especially in the "off-season" for Europe tourism. Hence the cruise lines and airlines have more incentive to negotiate better fares for cruise passengers to fill the capacity that exists.

Thank you for clarifying my incorrect terminology. I sort of knew I was wrong as I wrote the post, but couldn't come up with why I felt that way. And thank you for your detailed answer. My situation is definitely FCD, not FCC. And I believe that my deposit is refundable.

One cruise, right after the restart, I heard a bartender (on about Day 7 of a 10 day cruise) telling a guest that the entire ship was out of Grey Goose vodka, so they'd have to drink Absolute if they wanted vodka. Ohhhh...the humanity.🍸

The way the Roll Call for the 28 day cruise is going, it will be sold out before too long anyway.

Thanks

You forgot choice #4: All of the Above!

I paid the deposit for a cruise using future cruise credits purchased on board. If I cancel that cruise, do I get those FCCs back? Final payment is not due until late June 2023 so no issue there.

Hey, it's New Jersey. Delayed implementation just means the right local politicians or union leaders haven't been paid off yet or sufficiently.